London 2012 Olympics: Australian team plan to topple Britain and 'rain on their parade'

A top Australian Olympic official says he wants his country to "rain on the parade" of Great Britain at the 2012 London Games.

Raising the bar: British Olympian Jonathan Edwards is hopeful that the London Olympics will serve up unprecedented success for BritainPhoto: PA

By Jacquelin Magnay

10:55PM BST 17 May 2010

An upbeat portrayal of Britain's medal chances by Olympic champion Jonathan Edwards has hit a raw nerve Down Under.

A jittery Australian government has recently announced a new sports funding injection of $195 million. The Australians, fresh from a flogging of their cricket team in the Twenty20 World Cup final, and a relatively poor Beijing Olympic performance of sixth in the medal table, to Britain's fourth, want to topple the British.

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates used that cheeky phrase when the new tranche of sports money was released by the federal government in its budget.

It turns out Coates' tongue in cheek remarks were sparked by Edwards' statement in a promotional video used by the London Organising Committee for the Olympics Games in its recent presentation to the IOC executive board.

Coates is an IOC executive board member and a powerful member of the co-ordination commission which oversees the London preparations.

Edwards said in the video: "The Team GB cyclists were world-beaters in Beijing. We will be creating the fastest track in the world, hopefully for another haul of British gold medals in 2012."

Apparently other IOC executive board members ribbed Coates about the Edwards' comments and Coates, who at the Beijing Olympics famously praised Great Britain "to be getting there for a country that has very few swimming pools and not much soap" has again stoked the rivalry noting "we need to rain on their parade".